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Antônio Teodoro de Souza was born in 1932 in Ubatuba. He did a bit of everything, but says wood and sculpting were never far away, as if waiting for the right time to enter his life. “When I was young I worked at a bakery and made figurines using the bread dough. I baked them and people used to love them. I had many orders, but my boss didn’t like it.” Born into a poor family, he has always had to work in order to make a living, and he says sculpture came to him out of life’s hardships. “When I was 3 years old I got very ill and the doctors thought I was going to die, but the beach and the sea cured me. I spent a long time building sculptures in the sand, but the sea would always take everything away, and so I started working with wood.” Bigode – as he is known in the town – says his first figurine was the Holy Ghost, which he made for his uncle to use as an ornament at a local religious festival. “Then I started making the things I see around here, fish, fishermen, drunks. And I also made rabecas (a local version of the violin). I saw a man playing one and decided to make one out of guatambu wood. I also remember making a plate and a set of cutlery when I was 7 years old.” With a busy life and 20 children to raise
(14 of which are still alive) Bigode says he has worked hard, but cutting and sculpting wood really makes him happy. Today he is a bit weak due to glaucoma and high blood pressure, but he still works. A local lawyer collects his work, and his pieces can be found at the Liturgic Art Museum of Taubaté, and with other collectors in Brazil and abroad. “So far I’ve made 4,000 pieces, and 3,200 are abroad.” |
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